Year of the Spark: February 28
by Sparky Army
Summary: A party on the mainland and a slightly tipsy Elizabeth. The Year of the Spark continues.


_We, the Sparky Army, decree 2008 to be the Year of the Spark. We pledge to post a new sparky story or chapter of a sparky story every day from January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2008. Though the Powers the Be have removed Elizabeth Weir from the regular cast of Stargate Atlantis, we feel that she remains an integral part of the show, and that the relationship between her and John Sheppard is too obvious to be ignored. We hope that __you,__ and anyone might happen to read these works, agree. _

_And if that isn't official enough for you, we don't know what is. Seriously, guys, we're just trying to have some fun--and show TPTB that Sparky is the way to go. So sit back and enjoy the 366 stories coming your way!_

Authors Note (Hannah554): Okay, on behalf of the entire Sparky Army I apologise for not getting anything up anywhere near on time. There's 366 days in the year though so problems should be expected lol. Anyway I hope you enjoy this little ficlet!

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**A Celebration  
**_By Hannah554_

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Athosians threw the best parties in two galaxies hands down. Of course John had never experienced any of the parties the Milky Way's inhabitants threw, not including earths obviously but there was no way they were better than the Athosians.

Teyla had been right when she'd said a party would do everyone some good. It was funny but she would never have said that when he'd first met her, clearly the expedition team had been a bad influence on her; they'd turned her into a party girl.

The party had been in full swing for several hours already, the sun had long since gone down and the party showed no signs of stopping anytime soon. Many of the Athosians were beyond drunk, Teyla was amusingly among them. Ronon had been all over the abundant alcohol supplies from the moment he'd arrived and John was worried that he couldn't see the tall Satedan anywhere; he was quite possibly passed out somewhere. He knew exactly where Rodney was though, he'd been sure to keep track of the scientist throughout the night; he was currently stumbling around the dance area.

There were several other members of the Atlantis expedition around, Major Lorne and his team were there somewhere. He'd seen a very animated Carson once or twice as well which had been rather amusing.

His attention was mostly fixed on one person though... Elizabeth Weir.

The diplomat had refused to come to the party at first but after much pestering from him and Teyla she had finally agreed to come. That's when she'd refused to drink but then had drink after drink shoved into her hand and now she was looking a little less like the calm, composed and controlled diplomat everyone was used to seeing. She was talking to a couple of the Athosians, giggling at something and shifting her weight from foot to foot as though she had too much energy to stay still. He'd never seen her so open and relaxed, so carefree, like she didn't have an entire city and its problems waiting for her when the alcohol wore off.

John for his part had remained sober, the city couldn't function without its entire command team for long and so someone had to pilot the Jumper back to the city. Drunk flying was probably worse than drunk driving, especially if he was carrying a whole bunch of incredibly important people over a massive ocean.

He walked over to Elizabeth, the Athosians she had been with were moving over to the dance area and she stopped when she saw him approaching. "My second in command," she stated with a flirty grin on her face.

"Enjoying yourself?" he asked her and she smiled again as she nodded her head.

"You and Teyla were right, this was a good idea," she told him, her words were slightly slurred and John couldn't help but be amused. She took a couple of steps backward and nearly tripped herself over, John reached out a hand to steady her and she started laughing at herself. John smiled, biting back his own laughter.

"You," he began "Are adorable when you're drunk," he stated and she grinned again, it wasn't flirty, it was completely innocent as though she hadn't been touched by all the horrible things they had seen since coming to Atlantis. He wished it was a smile he saw more often.

Out of the corner of his eyes John saw Ronon's head above the rest of the crowd, the man was very obviously drunk but clearly not unconscious or injured so that was one less thing to worry about. He glanced over to Rodney who was now just sitting on the floor. Now he just had to figure out how he was going to get a bunch of drunken people into the Jumper in a couple of hour's time. He looked back to Elizabeth who had thrown her head back and was staring up at the stars. She was swaying slightly, her posture not really helping her balance and John resisted the urge to reach his hand out and steady her again.

"Elizabeth?" he questioned, trying to figure out exactly what she was doing.

"I wonder how many of them we've been to now," she stated thoughtfully and John unconsciously looked up.

"Probably a lot," he replied looking back down at her, her gaze was still pointed upwards and he took the rare opportunity to study her. Unfortunately, he didn't get far, her eyes shifted from the stars to him.

"What are you staring at Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard?" she asked him and he found himself once again biting back a laugh.

"You're just... it's good seeing you like this," he told her, choosing his words carefully.

"In what way?" she questioned the flirty look back on her face as she took a step towards him. She was now standing so close that he could feel her breath on his skin and he ignored the tingle it left there. He smiled and shook his head, choosing not to answer the question and stepping back from her slightly. "Does your hair just do that on its own?"

That made him laugh. "What?"

"Your hair," she told him emphasising the words "Does it do that on its own?"

"I'll never tell," he answered and she frowned, he was fairly sure she'd pouted too but he could never be sure and he knew better than to mention it, especially once she was sober.

"I think it's cute," she said after a moment and John smiled once again.

"I hope you don't remember all of this in the morning," he stated knowing how embarrassed she would be and she cocked her head to the side as though she was trying to comprehend the statement. He found the move rather endearing, it wasn't often Elizabeth's face showed a lack of understanding, if she didn't get something she usually hid it well.

"Dance with me," she requested grabbing his hand and tugging it to where everyone was dancing. Her eyes lit up and he found himself unable to say no so he allowed himself to be pulled along without resistance.

One thing was for sure, she was going to have a killer head ache in the morning.


End file.
